"GOOD RIDANCE!"Kyo roared as soon as he knew Kagura couldn't hear him,making Hikaru and Tohru jump. Hikaru glanced at Yuki,who was by himself at the other end of the room doing homework while she and Tohru cleaned Kyo up. Once Kyo felt a little better,Hikaru took her schoolbag and went over to Yuki.

"Yuki-kun,is it alright if you help me with my homework?"she asked YUuki,who looked up from his papers. He gave her a smile.

"Of course,Hikaru-san."he told her,and she sat down next to him with a small smile. She took out her textbooks and papers,wondering where her math paper went. She searched through the small stack,and finally found it. Once she found the problems she was having problems with(haha! XD),Yuki began helping. He made it look so easy! After about ten minutes,they were halfway through.

"So... A equals 2x to the third?"Hikaru asked again.

"Yes."

"And x equals 3... so it's two times three,and that equals six... to the third."Hikaru went on.

"Correct."

"Two-hundred and sixteen?"Hikaru asked again.

"That's right."Yuki told her,and she smiled. She wrote down her answer,happy to have gotten it right. After about ten more minutes,they were finished.

"Thank you,Yuki-kun."she smiled. Yuki smiled as well.

"It's no trouble at all."he told her. Tohru got up and rushed into the kitchen,saying something along the lines of "OnoIforgotomaydinner!". Kyo went up to the roof,which he hadn't done for a few days,and Yuki got up to go to his Secret Base.

"Yuki-kun,where are you going?"Hikaru asked as Yuki put on his shoes. He turned to her.

"I'm going to my Secret Base. Tohru hasn't mentioned it?"he asked as well,and Hikaru shook her head.

"Secret Base?"Hikaru repeated,scratching her head.

"Would you like to go and see it?"he asked again.

"Oh,well,if it's secret,and all,then I shouldn't-"

"I just call it that because I don't want Shigure or someone to go and ruin anything."he interupted her rather politely. "It's a garden."he told her.

"O-oh,well,I guess I'll go..."Hikaru murmurred,putting on her shoes as well. They both left,and she followed Yuki through the woods to his Secret Base. "Yuki-kun,are these strawberries?"Hikaru asked,bending down to take a closer look at a little green plant with red strawberries growing on them.

"Yes,and these ones look like they're ready to be picked."Yuki commented,bending down as well.

"Can I help?"she asked again.

"If you'd like."Yuki told her. They began picking the ripe ones,putting them in a container.

"Ooh,look,Yuki-kun,the... cabbage?"she guessed,and he nodded. "The cabbage looks ready,too."she told him. He looked at them for a few seconds.

"No,not quiet yet. I'd give them about another two weeks."he said.

"Oh.."

"But that was a very good quess."Yuki told her again,and she gave him a small smile. "We should start heading back,we've got enough strawberries and red kidney beans."he said again,and Hikaru nodded. She followed him back,but halfway there,she somehow wandered away from Yuki and wound up lost. "Yuki-kun?"she asked,clutching the container of the kidney beans. She stumbled as she took another step,and fell to her knees. She heard a noise near her,but couldn't tell where.

"Aaaaah!"Yuki heard Hikaru yell,and he immediatley ran in the direction of her voice. When he found her,and she was on her hands and knees,the container dropped and temporarily forgotten.

"Hikaru-san...?"he approached her slowly,and she looked up at him.

"Y-yuki-kun..."her voice was shakey.

"What's the matter?"he asked again.

"Th-there's..."

As soon as Yuki and Hikaru arrived back home,Yuki clutched a pale-looking snake tightly in his hands. He threw it onto the table,and it grunted. Tohru and Kyo stared,then immediately realized what must have happened,upon seeing Hikaru's shaken expression. Kyo got up,and stomped over to the snake.

"Ah,Yuki,please do not throw me like that. It hurts,you know."the snake looked at Yuki and Kyo,who were giving him the most frightening death-glares I can't even imagine.

"I know,that's why I did it."Yuki growled,clenching his fists.

"Ayame..."Kyo growled. There was a POOF!,and a puff of pale(don't exactly know what color... --) smoke,and Tohru and Hikaru immediately looked away.

"Ah,my apologies,Hikaru-chan."Ayame sat,with one of Shigure's kimonos on,at the table,looking at Hikaru,who was still embarassed.

"Don't call her 'chan'!"Kyo and Yuki yelled at him in unision.

"My,my,you two have such tempers."Ayame wiggled him finger at them,and Kyo growled. "One of the bad things about being the Snake,is that I have to be careful about the temperature... Sadly,today I had forgotten and I tranformed."he said again with a sigh. "I had to find something warm,and Hikaru was-"

"WE KNOW!"Kyo and Yuki both yelled in unision once more,making Hikaru jump. Hikaru seemed bothered by something,and she was still shaken a bit.

"What's wrong,Hikaru?"Tohru asked.

"It-it's nothing..."Hikaru stuttered,looking down.

"It's not 'nothing',now spill."Kyo told her,and she gave a quiet sigh.

"I'm ashamed,really... I have a fear of snakes. I don't like them at all."she told them,and Ayame gave a dramatic gasp.

"Oh,Hikaru-chaan! That hurts my feelings!"he said,immediately making Hikaru feel worse. WHAM. Ayame wound up in a heap on the floor and Yuki and Kyo held their fists.

"Don't say that to her!"they yelled,and Ayame sat up,holding two large lumps on his head.

"Why must you be so violent?"he whined. Kyo twitched in anger,and Yuki gave a quiet growl. Hikaru looked at her feet,then stood up,and bowed to Ayame.

"I'm sorry if I insulted you... Ayame-san."she told him quietly,and left the room,a single tear silently slipping down her cheek. Kyo glared at Ayame.

"Now look what you've done!"he yelled at his cousin,who looked dumbstruck,and went after Hikaru,who had gone to her room again. "Hikaru..."he knocked twice on the door,then opened it. "Ayame's an idiot,Hikaru,he says stuff before he thinks about it."he told her. "His feelings aren't really hurt,he was just saying that."he said again,and Hikaru wiped her face. He took her hand,and pressed his lips to her forehead. "Please don't think low of yourself..."he mumbled,and did something that surprised Hikaru. He pulled her into a hug,knowing he'd transform. She hugged him back,and she rested the side of her face on his chest just before he transformed. Hikaru cradled the orange cat in her arms,a small smile on her face.

"Hikaru?"he said after a minute.

"Hmm?"

"Don't call me Kyo-kun. Just call me by my name."he told her,and she nodded after a moment. She put Kyo back down on the floor,then turned away. There was a POOF!,and after a minute Kyo told Hikaru to turn back around. There was a soft knock at the door.

"Who is it?"Hikaru answered.

"It's Tohru. Dinner's ready,if you want to eat."Tohru's voice came from the other side of the door.

"Alright,Tohru-chan."Hikaru told her,and the sound of footsteps,then silence,told the two Tohru had gone back downstairs. Then,they both made their way downstairs and into the living room,where Tohru had just finished putting the plates down on the table.

"Hikaru-chan-"

"Don't call her chan!"

"Hikaru-san,I apologize if I made you think you're a bad person."Ayame started over after Yuki and Kyo 'rudely interrupted'.

"It's alright,Ayame-san."she gave him a small smile.

"Oh no,I left the bathwater running again!"Tohru jumped up from her seat at the table,and rushed up the stairs. Kyo rolled his eyes,not in an annoyed way,but in a playful type of way.

"Hikaru-san,are you going to eat?"Yuki asked Hikaru after Tohru had come back down and they started eating. Hikaru looked up,snapping back to reality,and slowly nodded.

"What's the matter?"Ayame asked after noticing Hikaru had a negative aura about her. She looked at him,wondering if she should tell any of them.

"Tomorrow is the anniversary of my family's death."she finally got out,struggling to keep herself from crying. The air got thicker,heavier,and just worsened after Kyo explained to Ayame what had happened. Hikaru ate very little than usual,which was already little to begin with,and was the first to go to bed. Ayame slept in Shigure's room,and Kyo,Tohru,and Yuki stayed up for a little bit. Kyo went up to the roof eventually,and Yuki and Tohru both went to bed.

The next day,Hikaru woke up early,and came down dressed in a black dress that went half-way down her calves(sp?? o.0),along with black shoes and an old,tattered picture clutched tightly in her hands. She left,not having anything close to an appetite,for the cemetary. What she didn't realize was that Kyo and Yuki were already up. Kyo jumped down from the roof,landing with a soft thud on the ground. Yuki watched from the window of the kitchen,then went outside,hoping Hikaru would be alright.

Hikaru arrived shortly at the gate of the cemetary,the eerie appearance sending chills straight down her back and up again. She walked past many headstones,soem of the older ones beginning to crumble,and finally settled down in front of four graves. She read each headstone slowly.

"Cho Misuka. A sister,a daughter,an angel on earth."

"Isaku Misuka. A brother,a son,an inspired and dedicated student."

"Megumi Misuka. A loving wife,a caring mother."

"Shino Misuka. A loving father,a loving husband,an inspiration to all."

Hikaru looked back at her mother's grave again.

" 'Loving... Caring...' "she repeated,her anger seething. She smashed her fist through the stone,shards of rock flying through the air,a dust cloud forming around her. Even from afar,you'd be able to tell that there were now four large chunks of stone missing from her mother's grave. Hikaru sunk to her knees in front of her father's grave,sobbing. "Why did you have to die,Papa? Why?! Why did you leave me,Cho,and Isuka? Why did you leave my mother?"she clutched desperately to the headstone like it was the only thing keeping her alive. She heard a rustling noise in the bushes,and jumped up. "Who's there?"she called out. No one responded,but she sensed a presence. "Who's there?"she repeated,clenching her fists,ready to fight if they were wanting to hurt her. Kyo came out from the bushes,followed by an embarassed Yuki. "How did you find me?"she asked,lowering her fists.

"We wanted to make sure you were alright,Hikaru-san. We were already up when you left."Yuki told her,and Kyo nodded. Hikaru wiped her face,then winced as she clutched her hand. It was starting to slightly swell.

"Hikaru,your hand."Kyo and Yuki rushed to her side.

"Don't mind it..."Hikaru looked away from them.

"Hikaru-"Kyo started.

"I said 'don't mind it'."Hikaru glared,a tone of hatred in her voice. Kyo retreated a bit,hurt in his eyes. Hikaru turned back to her family's graves,and placed the picture on the ground. She lit a stick on incense on each grave,even her mother's. She didn't know how to feel at the moment;should she still blame herself,or should she blame her mother? Should she just let it go,or continue to weep and mourn? She didn't know who to hate more:herself,her mother,or her father. She loved her father so much,but she hated him for dying. She couldn't let it go,her mother had no right to kill herself and her siblings. She couldn't just weep and mourn,because that won't rid her of her pain. She didn't know. She just didn't know. "UGH!"Hikaru roared,and kicked her mother's headstone again. The rock crumbled,and the incense went out. She took the picture in her hands,and prayed for her family,before leaving in tears once more. Kyo and Yuki went after her. Once they arrived back at the house,Tohru was already up making breakfast.

"Oh,I thought you were all still asleep."Tohru looked surprised when she saw them coming in through the front door.

"Nope..."Kyo yawned,and Hikaru wiped her face.

"Hikaru-san,are you alright?"Tohru asked Hikaru.

"I'm fine."Hikaru replied,and went into the living room.